Acceptable items for food

[paris]

i couldnt really find a section here for non frozen/non live foods...so i guess this is a good compromise. in the search for affordability and variety, i offer many food items including a turtle food/kibble that is no longer made-so when i run out im SOL! i have offered shrimp before to my sirens and they loved it, in the search for something to give them all i went to the pet food isle and attempted to buy canned cat food-like i have used before-but when i read the label most were about 10% protein-and that shocked me..so i went back to the meat area hoping for maybe a special on shrimp or some turkey hearts, i found though 'catfish nuggets', since this is a freshwater fish i deemed it a good item to try and the 1/2 pound cost me 1.25$. i am not sure i chose wisely to feed them strips of it RAW, but since it was intended for human consumption i felt it had to be low risk -probably farm raised and visually inspected...anyways this stuff proved more popular then worm chunks! some of my finicky eaters -like my hong kongs, t verrucous and p caudos-went for it like a pack of rats, and actually ate more than i have ever seen them eat in one sitting. should i have cooked it though? i was wondering if it would change its taste to them (i'd leave out the butter and garlic). pretty much every one who eats in water or hand fed ate them with enthusiasm, even a spotted sal i saw poking his head out -who normally wont take food from me. both taricha torosa subspecies liked them alot!-but the rivularis were so so on them. my pachys who normally stop at 2-3 worm chunks ate them fast and begged for more, the spring sals, some tigers and my new weird pachys werent really interested.

 

[justin]

Was fixing salmon for dinner the other night and before marinating it, I cut off a section and divided that into cubes. Dropped the chunks into my axolotl tank and watched them go nuts...nothing left, but two, fat axolotls!

 

[ralf]

I have used fish filet (both marine and freshwater) successfully with caudates before. Sometimes in combination with various other food stuff like shrimp, frozen plancton etc. and in form of gelatinous "feeder sticks" (using Agar agar to store the mixture in the freezer).
Be aware though, that fat content might be quite high in fish (and different parts of the fish), potentially causing liver problems if fed solely over a long period of time.